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King Berolden I
King Berolden I Ralvann (8 Denda 556 TA - 28 Umashan 69 NA), formerly known as Berolden Ralvann, was the first king of the Kingdom of Lossira during the New Age. By unseating the widely unpopular King Ragoran XIX, he sought to usher in a new era for his country, which had seen internal conflicts slowly rising over the preceding decades. His ascension was so significant that the House of Records established that his reign should signal the end the Third Age and begin the New Age. At 69 years, 9 months, and 32 days, he is the longest-serving monarch in the Ralvann Dynasty as well as in the country's history. Early Life Berolden Ralvann was born on 8th Denda 556 TA in Vorthis, Sataron County, Oranal, Lossira to Alovan Ralvann and Ravena Moltann. Alovan had been notorious for revoking claim to the historic mardas of Ralvanta, in spite of being the eldest brother born to Lord Baron Ganan Ralvann, 6th Lord of Farsanta. As the descendant of a royal line, Berolden was able to attend Basarann Academy in Vorthis, one of the many royally-sanctioned schools for young boys. He became quite learned in history as well as in rhetoric and music. Early Political Experience In around year 8, he sought out advice from the year 9 and 10 students as to what they felt could be done to improve the school. In the following months, he would become very active in the betterment of the school, advocating for numerous changes suggested to him by his fellow students. One of the scholars who worked at the Academy would refer to Berolden as "the louse", referring to the constant small changes that would be suggested to him. He petitioned the headmaster for the creation of a student advisor position, acting as a liaison between the student body and the faculty. For this post he suggested his childhood friend Palatan Epann, with numerous students signing a petition to second the nomination, but the headmaster refused. The next year, petitions continued to be filed, which resulted in the headmaster, some claim begrudgingly, assigning Palatan as the student advisor. Quickly, however, the amount of busy work that was assigned to him proved to take up all of his time for studies, and he began to miss more and more lessons. It was about three weeks into this period that Berolden agreed to take over as the liaison, to which Palatan would accept. The headmaster, however, did not approve of this change and removed the post altogether, to the dismay of the student body. The Suspension Incident That night, one of the headmaster's front windows was smashed in by an unknown assailant. Berolden was quick to denounce the act publicly, but the faculty suspended all activities and confined all students to their dormitories. Many students staged non-violent protests, such as "truancy, disruption, and general mischief". On 16 Varishan 572 TA, failing to come to a definitive solution, the headmaster decided to suspend the entire student body until such time as he could contact the parents of every student. Many would refuse to leave the academy building, and so local militiamen were called in to remove the students by force. Several scuffles ensued, and in the commotion, one student by the name of Moridan was shoved towards the main entryway of the academy. He tripped over another student and fell to the floor, sustaining a fatal head injury as he made contact with the ground. After that, the militiamen departed and Moridan's body had to be moved into a nearby classroom. That afternoon, Berolden arrived at the headmaster's study and brokered a deal for all student suspensions to be lifted in exchange for all protests to cease and his agreement to leave the school and receive private tutoring as a replacement for his year 10 education; it was during this time that he would discover the language and culture of Bura, which would inform many aspects of his lifestyle in the decades to come. He did, however, secure a place in the graduation ceremony and would not be excluded from his Stalwartship Ceremony. When he did walk at his graduation, he received a two-minute standing ovation, despite calls from the head Advisor to cease. That summer, he came of age and, many believe that it was only for the strict rules of silence during the ceremony that prevented a similar manifestation from occurring during his Stalwarts' March. Early Adult Life While making it through his education successfully, all of the clamour around him attracted the attention of King Ragoran Seglann XIX himself. On 27 Malshan 572 TA, Berolden, his parents, and siblings all received royal invitations to the king's New Year's Set celebrations taking place ten days later. Berolden later described it in a journal entry as 'a peculiar feeling, where no one seemed to pay you any mind, yet you could feel partyguests' gazes projected out the backs of their heads and into your consciousness.' At some point in the evening, Berolden and his family were guided over to the table where the king was sitting. After yielding graces, Ragoran expressed his amusement at the events at the school, and expressed an interest in what Berolden would one day grow to become. After his graduation from the academy, Berolden immediately applied to the two-year Nobleman's Course in Buran Classics, initially intending to be a historian at the Royal Artifacts Museum. However, he was denied entry into the program. While he waited for the next chance to apply, he got a job at Sataron College, where he held tutoring sessions for the local students in both Western and Northern Kedalaran history. He quickly became a popular authority among the students for his reputation as the quiet rebel. According to Berolden, his sessions quickly rose to about three score in attendance each week, ranging mostly between years 8 and 10, with even some student between years 5 and 7 coming along to learn (year 8 is when the curriculum dictates the learning of in-depth Kedalosan history.) Among the students to regularly attend were Tagaron Kendann, in year 9; Derahan Ustann, in year 9; Fanera Perethann, in year 8; and Dasan Oruth, in year 6; nearly a decade later, they would all come together to form the power center of the rebellion forces. Derahan was merely a student at the time of the incident at Basarann Academy, but Fanera had fought her own battle in an attempt to be the first female student at the academy, Tagaron was one of the students who had carried Moridan's body from where he had died, and Dasan was in fact Moridan's younger brother. They all expressed an interest in reforming the policies of the academy to better the daily lives of the students. Graduate Study Berolden took a liking to all of his students, but he did connect with his four future compatriots right from the start. However, this direct rapport only lasted for a year, when his renown as a tutor led to his admission to Doramas University on a three-year Trader's Course in Kedalaran History with a focus in Second Age history. On 12 Eldon 574 TA, Berolden came to Doramas itself for the first time, and it was during this time at University that he began to realize the realities of the urban lower-class people in the outer districts of the capital. He founded a small collective that received donations and gifted the clothes to people in need. However, all "distributive service transactions" had to be verified by the government, and as it was not sanctioned as such, he was told to cease operations and was even threatened with interference should he not comply. He responded by leaving the donations in an undisclosed location and allowing the recipients to pick items up themselves, therefore eliminating the 'transaction'. He was then able to continue operations until local law enforcement threatened to seize all of the organization's assets. All of its activities were suspended, but Berolden wrote that "losing the will to renew my efforts of compassion shall surely come to me as easily as childbirth". Personal Life Berolden had an older sister, Keldala, and two younger siblings, Elvi and Tamana. He met his wife, Queen Amare Odrann, during his time at Doramas University. His favorite artist was the sculptor Jasun Mareth, who he employed to make the first of the Regnal Statues. Since then, the Mareth family has had close ties to the Farsann family, and each successive generation has been tasked with continuing the line. He had access to the university's library, within which would become his favorite book, The Power of Civility, a text renowned by many as centuries ahead of its time by Aleskia Meldrie, an early civil rights activist who helped to envision governments led by the people. His epitaph was inspired by a saying attributed to legendary general Kaego Bural's famous quote, "Count your enemies as friends, your friends as brothers, and your brothers as yourself." Berolden spoke four languages; Patrok, tam-Bura, and Ímné, in addition to his native Siran. He was also very gifted with accents, and could speak every dialect of Lossira to a fair degree or better. Category:Monarchs Category:People Category:Sirans Category:Royalty